On-line entertainment has been popular for several years. Typically, users connect to the Internet through their desktop computers and enjoy computer-hosted games ranging from simple board games, like backgammon, to more complex and graphic intensive adventure games. Recently, developments in technology have enabled users to engage in multi-player, interactive gaming sessions with other users who may be scattered across the globe. The ability to play a game with friends, and even strangers, who are not similarly located creates an exciting outlet for gaming aficionados.
Although in its infancy, interactive gaming has become available to users over a wireless network. Using their mobile handset as a game controller, users play games with other players not in their area without being tied down to their desktop computer. The thrill of interactive gaming coupled with the convenience of being able to play anywhere through your mobile handset makes wireless interactive gaming a very exciting, and potentially profitable, opportunity for operators of wireless networks.
Interactive gaming over a wireless network, however, is not without its disadvantages. Latency and data transmission delays create performance issues when gaming over any network but are especially troublesome over wireless communication networks. Many known systems attempt to solve latency issues by offering only simplistic games with no or low quality graphics that are unaffected by communication delays. These systems, however, significantly depreciate the user's gaming experience. In addition, many known wireless interactive gaming systems are not truly interactive and require users to actually be within a certain range from one another. Other known systems tax network capacity and waste network resources to such a degree that network operators must charge users prohibitively high service fees to avoid significant losses.
Others have attempted to provide multi-player, interactive gaming over a network. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,898 to Vange, et al., discloses a computer-based interactive gaming system that uses a method for initiating and scaling a massive concurrent data transaction. Vange discloses a system and method for optimizing the transmission of computer-hosted game information over a telecommunications link, such as the Internet.
European Patent Application No. 00660125.6, filed by Nokia Corporation, discloses a multi-player game system using a mobile telephone and game unit. The application discloses using a mobile phone to download a game to separate game units and linking the multiple users using a low power radio link.
European Patent Application No. 00660161.1, filed by Nokia Corporation, discloses a system for profiling mobile station activity in a predictive command wireless game system. The application discloses a system and method for customizing an interactive, text-based game based on mobile station activity.
Although many of the prior known gaming systems claim to offer an enhanced, interactive gaming experience, none of the prior known systems of which the present inventors are aware offer: (1) a fully interactive gaming experience; (2) over a truly wireless network; (3) with high resolution graphics; (4) while efficiently using network resources; and (5) offering those services at a low, fixed, monthly service charge, that is not based on minutes of use.
The present invention addresses the problem of how to deliver an enhanced, interactive game experience, efficiently and cost effectively. In particular, the system and method of the present invention offers a real-time, interactive experience and improves control over the transfer of game state information. Preferably, by controlling degrees of freedom information and managing the network traffic more efficiently than prior known systems, the present invention conserves network capacity and offers the network operator cost savings advantages. This enables the operator to provide a more enhanced interactive gaming experience with the same amount of network resources. This also creates the possibility of providing a wireless game service to end users at a flat monthly rate rather than on a “per unit of time” basis. In this regard, the present invention is preferably adapted to the pricing model of Assignee's Cricket™ wireless telecommunications services.